Dreamer
by Correcthorsebatterystaple
Summary: Phantom is not a dreamer. PhanAria, slight PhanEvan.


Phantom was not a dreamer. No; in the thief's mind, dreamers were fools, who had never seen the harsh reality of the world.

Perhaps he had been, once, when he had dared to dream that a thief and the empress could be together. (Yet Aria had died, all because he hadn't been there to save her. It was his fault. Why was it always his fault?)

Aria had been a dreamer. She was an optimistic girl, always hoping for the best, and maybe that was what had caused Phantom to fall in love with her. She was able to see the good in a scoundrel such as him, and, although she made no lie about disapproving of his thefts, she accepted him as he was. Things and actions were black and white to her, but she was able to see the vast shades that existed in _people_.

Maybe that had been Aria's downfall, when she had dreamed that an envoy of the Black Mage's could have come to discuss peace, rather than simply kill her.

Phantom loved her. He would carry on her dreams of a peaceful world, and try with all his might to fulfil them, but he was not a dreamer. He was a pessimist... As his new companion was discovering.

Aran, who had lost her memory, Mercedes, and Evan, the so-called successor of Freud, had all tracked the elusive thief down to enlist his help once more. It had taken much convincing, all the while Evan had simply stood back shyly and twiddled his thumbs while Mercedes tried to beat some sense into Phantom, but he had finally come to the conclusion that perhaps it would be more efficient to once again join the five heroes (minus one; they still had not found Luminous.)

Evan, Phantom was realizing, was a dreamer as well. The brunette always saw the good in people, while Phantom always saw the worst. Evan was naïve to a fault; the boy had already began to aid the Black Wings unknowingly before Aran had found him. The boy had made up for his mistakes, but Phantom still saw him as the worst kind of idiot.

Phantom was beginning to dislike him already.

"Mister Phantom?" The annoying teen himself was asking haltingly, blue eyes looking up at him hesitantly. They weren't the shade of Freud's, and that made the master thief look away.

"What?" Phantom snapped.

"I... Well, I know you're kind of mad at me 'cause I messed up and all, but I was wondering if you'd give me a chance? Please? I... I want to be your friend," Evan's voice twanged with a Henesys accent.

"No, you don't."

"Why not?" Evan bit his lip, blinking in confusion.

"Everyone that has ever gotten close to me has died."

Evan simply stood there hesitantly, thinking that it was rather silly to be so superstitious, but the emotionally intelligent boy recognized it as a lost cause. He slumped, and sighed softly. "Well, if you want to come eat lunch with the rest of us..." He trailed off, before walking away.

When Evan looked at Phantom, he saw a beaten down man behind the arrogant smirks and smartass remarks. The young dragon master had long ago learned that every person had an outside image, a façade of sorts, and they kept their real self on the inside. He could often tell what kind of person someone was just by looking at their eyes. (Sometimes, he really wished that Hiver had just taken his sunglasses off.)

Phantom's eyes were dull. He kept them downcast, never looking up at the sky, and when he looked at Evan, they were filled with pain. It was because he looked like Freud, wasn't it? At least, that was what everyone told him...

Evan knew that Phantom wasn't a bad person, just hurt, and people who are hurt lash out so that they won't get hurt anymore. To be honest with himself, it stung when Phantom was cold towards him, but he tried to show kindness to the blond anyways. Phantom was always distant, never joining the others for meals. Evan was always the first to ask him, and the first to be rejected.

Phantom looked so sad all the time.

"Mercedes, how do you make someone happy?" Evan asked thoughtfully one day. Mercedes was an elf, and hundreds of years old, so she would be experienced, wouldn't she?

Mercedes blinked down at him; everyone was taller than the short fourteen year old.

"It depends on the person," She answered, wondering if perhaps the human had met a special someone the last time they went into town for supplies. "You could always try flowers."

"Flowers?" Evan flushed. Wasn't that a bit... flirtatious?

But it wasn't as if he had any better ideas...

Weeks passed after that conversation with the elf queen. Evan attempted to ask Aran, but the woman was unable to offer him any good advice. All of her memories of cheering people up were gone. Mir, of course, wasn't any better; all that the young dragon could say was that it cheered him up when his master cuddled him. Evan flushed at the thought of cuddling Phantom, and then blanched; the thief would probably murder him if he even suggested such a thing.

Evan sighed and then kicked a rock. ...Flowers it was.

The next time they stopped and set up camp for lunch, Evan gave the excuse that he wasn't hungry, and instead wandered off a little bit. He found a rose-bush, and looked at the color of the roses. They were red.

He chewed his lip thoughtfully. What was it that Camilla had told him red roses meant... Friendship? Yeah, that was it.

With a bright smile, Evan skipped off to find Phantom. The thief, it turned out, was sitting in a tree. He leapt down gracefully when Evan called him.

Phantom eyed Evan suspiciously, wondering what the boy was hiding behind his back.

Slowly, sheepishly, a flushing Evan presented him with a red rose. "Phantom... You should smile more often."

Phantom simply stood there, eyebrows raised. Those had been his words to Aria, as he had presented her with a red rose. Those had been his words when he was a dreamer.

Evan was so young...

Seeing no positive response, Evan slumped and grinned self deprecatingly. "Yeah, um. I'll just... Go."

"Wait," Phantom took the proffered rose, smiling softly. "Thank you. And..." He bent down, gently kissing Evan's forehead.

"Don't stop dreaming."


End file.
